Editor’s picks
Latest news from around the world on mature workers for January 2020
‘Debate on ageing workforce needs to address inequality’ (UK)
Professor Chris Phillipson warns that we are facing a vacuum in policy discussions about the ageing workforce and urgently need forums for debate about the implications. Prof Phillipson warns particularly about the downsides of the gig economy for older workers. – Workingwise, 29 January 2020
Integrating and leveraging the skills of older workers
Encore.org and WorkingNation recently partnered on a roundtable discussion with innovative thinkers who say multigenerational workplaces are rich with opportunity, and that differing generations can learn a lot from each other. – Working Nation, 27 January 2020
What it really means when a company says you’re overqualified for the job
It’s a frustrating experience to be told you’re overqualified for a job. You worked hard to build your résumé and thought it would lead you to an easier job search, yet you find yourself being rejected when you clearly meet all the requirements. In fact, it turns out that you have too many skills according to the recruiter or hiring manager. – Forbes, 26 January 2020
Redesigning Retirement at the World Economic Forum
Martine Ferland, President & Chief Executive Officer at Mercer and Vice Chair at Marsh & McLennan, discusses a Mercer event held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, focused on longevity called, “Redesigning Retirement for Longer Working Lives.”
The event was a novel workshop, very hands-on, with attendees discussing persona-specific solutions that will result in a post-Davos package of materials called, “Redesigning Later Life.” It will include today’s findings and provide a plan for testing and developing the solutions, and calls to action to enable them. – Marine Ferland, LinkedIn, 24 January 2020
Paul lrving: the future of aging (podcast)
Paul Irving, chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute and distinguished scholar in residence at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, joins Professor George Shannon in a conversation that sheds light on the need to prepare for growing older, reasons to resist retiring, the value of volunteering and other opportunities of aging. – University of Southern California, 23 January 2020
Tips for older job seekers going back to work (Podcast)
The job search can be tough, but finance author Kerry Hannon has just the advice and motivation you need to land a great job as an older employee. Listen in to learn more. – AARP, 23 January 2020
Banker told he was ‘old and set in his ways’ wins unfair dismissal claim (UK)
Tribunal finds complaints of age discrimination were ‘treated less seriously’ than complaints of sex or race discrimination would have been. – People Management, 24 January 2020
For a healthy aging workforce policy, look to Colorado (USA)
In Colorado, the 65 plus population is the third fastest growing in the nation, and one in four Coloradoans aged 65 and over is working (compared to one in five nationally). According to a recent Vail Valley Partnership and Vail Valley Economic Development report, housing, recruitment, and health insurance present significant labor challenges for resort areas. However, most workers 65-plus in the Vail Valley already having a housing and health insurance — they make an excellent pool of potential employees. A 66-year-old retired wood craftsman and friend just became a certified ski instructor. – The Hill, 24 January 2020
Age discrimination, caregiving and health issues limit options for older workers (USA)
Even with low unemployment rates making employers desperate to hire, many older adults say they are trapped in jobs that either don’t match their skills or don’t let them work as many hours as they’d like, a new survey from AARP finds. – AARP, 21 January 2020
Age Discrimination Is Bad — for the Bottom Line
As workforces get older, employers still overwhelmingly prefer younger workers. Of all the numerous kinds of employment discrimination, hiring younger workers in preference to older ones earns the least public condemnation. That’s a growing problem, not just because equality is increasingly prominent on the political agenda but because ageism makes less and less economic sense as birth rates go down and nations age. – Bloomberg, 24 January 2020
How do we upskill a billion people by 2025? Leadership and collaboration will be key
Many of the conversations at Davos this week will focus on how we can upskill a billion people over the next five years. But why is it necessary? And how can it be achieved? Author: Bob Moritz, Global Chairman, PwC – The European Sting, 22 January 2020
China’s 2019 birthrate lowest in 70 years of communist rule
China’s birthrate dropped last year to its lowest level since the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, adding to concerns of a long-term challenge for the government, as the ageing society and shrinking workforce pile pressure on a slowing economy. – Al Jazeera, 18 January 2020
Time is ticking for Europe
Time is ticking for Europe, as it begins to take its demographic challenge seriously. The European Commission recently appointed Dubravka Šuica from Croatia to the position of Vice-President for Democracy and Demography. Her mission letter outlines her job for the next five years: “ensuring that Europe understands and responds to one of its deepest lying challenges: demographic change”.
Europe now has the world’s oldest population, with the median age hitting 43. From 2021 – just next year – Europe’s population is forecast by the United Nations to start shrinking. Natural increase actually became negative in 1990-2000, but now net migration is no longer able to offset population decline. – MercatorNet, 18 January 2020
Ageing to hit Finnish economy more severely than expected
The Finnish economy will be hit by population ageing more severely than expected, warns the Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo).
Hypo on Thursday viewed in its biannual economic review that the impact of population ageing on the national economy is larger than any policy measure introduced by the government or the possible wave of strikes ahead. – Helsinki Times, 17 January 2020
How Ageism Negatively Affects Older People’s Health
Bias against age is prevalent in many societies, embedded into societal institutions and expressed in individual perceptions and behaviors, and studies have shown that ageism can negatively affect older people’s health. As the aging population around the world continues to grow, these biases could add to already skyrocketing health care costs, say experts. – Time, 17 January 2020
The Problem of an Ageing Global Population, Shown by Country
This graphic relies on OECD data to demonstrate how the old-age to working-age ratio will change by 2060, highlighting some of the world’s fastest ageing countries. – Visual Capitalist, 15 January 2020
Finally, U.S. House Will Address Disastrous U.S. Supreme Court Ruling On Age Discrimination
The U.S. House of Representatives this week will address a devastating 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that has left millions of older workers with scant protection from age discrimination in employment for the past decade. – Forbes, 13 January 2020
Age and sex discrimination victories put spotlight on workplace unfairness (Ireland)
There’s nothing like legal cases involving journalists to raise the media profile of a particular issue or ill. This week it was the turn of both age discrimination and sex discrimination, with executive television producer Anne Roper winning her age discrimination case against RTÉ, and presenter Samira Ahmed triumphing in her equal pay tribunal versus the BBC. – The Irish Times, 11 January 2020
Recent ruling on workplace age bias could have an enormous impact (USA)
Discusses the important implications of a 2019 court decision for age discrimination claims in the USA. – Minn Post, 10 January 2020
Failure to prioritise ageing workforce ‘harming productivity’ (UK)
The failure by businesses to prioritise an ageing workforce is hitting productivity, Aviva has argued. It comes after official figures revealed UK productivity (output per hour) rose by just 0.1% in July to September 2019 compared with the same quarter in the previous year. – Health Insurance & Protection, 10 January 2020
Similarities Between the French ‘Institutional Harassment’ Case And IBM Age Discrimination Litigation? (USA, France)
A French court recently became the first to recognize the crime of “institutional harassment,” where managers intentionally degrade working conditions and create an anxiety-provoking climate to pressure workers to quit.
There appear to be loose parallels between the Télécom case and several civil age discrimination lawsuits filed in the United States against IBM. – Forbes, 9 January 2020
Age discrimination cases taken by workers told to retire ‘skyrocket’ (Ireland)
Claims of age discrimination by workers who are forced to retire at 65 are set to skyrocket this year, according to an employment law solicitor. In his practice he has seen the number of cases taken on these employment equality grounds more than quadruple over the past four years. – The Independent, 6 January 2020
The Double Whammy For Older, Low-Wage Workers With Chronic Conditions (USA)
Sixty percent of Americans have at least one chronic disease, such as heart disease or diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic diseases are even more common among older, low-income adults and minorities. But when Kendra Jason, a sociology professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, studied workplace supports for older, low-income black workers with chronic conditions, she found some serious problems. – Forbes, 7 January 2020
Age Discrimination Starts When An Employer Becomes Aware Of An Older Worker’s Age (USA)
New research finds that job applicants aged 40 and above begin to experience age discrimination at the point where their age becomes apparent to the employer.
In a new, groundbreaking paper, David Neumark, an economist at the University of California, Irvine, writes that workers who apply on site for positions are “substantially” less likely to be invited for an interview compared to workers who apply on the Internet (and are not required to disclose their age). – Forbes, 6 January 2020
Jobs must be redesigned to suit older workers (Aust)
At 74, Graham Jones has boundless energy and no intention of slowing down when it comes to his physically demanding work. So when his new manager of one month suggested he was too old to be working, it came as a shock.
Mr Jones, from the Wollongong suburb of Cordeaux Heights, last week won an unfair dismissal case at the Fair Work Commission which ordered his reinstatement after finding he had a “reasonable expectation of ongoing employment”.
The finding comes as new Australian research finds that health and wealth will determine who keeps working beyond their 50s and 60s unless jobs are redesigned to meet the needs of older workers. – Sydney Morning Herald, 5 January 2020
Oxford professor forced to retire at 69 wins age discrimination claim (UK)
Tribunal finds university’s method of bringing in younger academics was not a ‘proportionate’ way of achieving diversity. – People Management, 2 January 2020
Ageism — the ‘last acceptable bias’ — is rampant at work, AARP says (USA)
Ageism at work is widespread, tolerated and viewed as the “last acceptable bias,” according to an American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) investigation, the organization announced Dec. 30.
The research found that age bias occurs in three basic areas: 1) hiring, whereby employers target younger applicants job ad language; 2) on-the-job situations, in which older workers are harassed and prevented from advancing due to misperceptions about their tech skills; and 3) firing, whereby older workers are targeted for dismissals because of false perceptions about their pay levels and contributions.
The report also found that large employers often tolerate age bias because the laws that protect older workers are “decidedly weaker” than those prohibiting other forms of discrimination, AARP said. – HR Dive, 2 January 2020
Over-65s to account for over half of employment growth in next 10 years (UK)
Workers aged 65 and older will be responsible for more than half of all UK employment growth over the next 10 years and almost two-thirds of employment growth by 2060, according to new figures.Employers urged to unlock potential of older workforce and create supporting environment. – The Guardian, 1 January 2020
Ideal offices look at needs of all ages: Neil Usher (India)
In his book, The Elemental Workplace: The 12 Elements For Creating A Fantastic Workplace For Everyone, Neil Usher arrives at a universal definition of an “elemental workplace”. Make workplaces a lot more collaborative is good for all of us, not just young people. – Live Mint, 7 January 2020